Komisario Palmun erehdys

By all accounts prolific Finnish writer Mika Waltari suffered from manic depression and should he have seen the Hollywood version of his great historical novel 'The Egyptian' his condition could only have been exacerbated. By way of contrast his contribution to the crime genre, the Inspector Kalmu Trilogy, has been brought to the screen with tremendous flair and imagination by fellow Finn Matti Kassila and features one of his country's most respected artistes Joel Rinne as the bluff detective, made up to bear a remarkable resemblance to Joseph Stalin which may or may not have been coincidental.

The second in the trilogy, it is the first to be filmed and the modus operandi of the 'murder mystery' is on full display here with its twists and turns, red herrings galore and an ensemble of deliciously diverse characters, some of whom verge on the caricature. Kassila has choreographed his players well, the pacing is spot on and Osmo Lindeman's score suitably bizarre.

It has been voted by Finnish critics and journalists as Finland's greatest film but this viewer is not sufficiently well up on that country's cinema to judge whether this status be justified.

This inventive, darkly humorous pastiche is eminently watchable however and has the advantage of being sub-titled. How best to describe it? The phrase 'Agatha Christie on steroids' springs to mind.

Inspector Palmu gets an assignment to work on the case of a young playboy called Bruno Rygseck.Palmu knows something nobody else seems to know; that it was a murder.Komisario Palmun Erehdys (1960) is a Matti Kassila film.It's based on Mika Waltari's second Palmu novel from 1940.I read it before I watched this on a VHS a little while back.Sure I had seen it before, but these classics you can watch more than once.The cast is really something else.Can't picture anybody else than Joel Rinne portraying Frans J. Palmu.And what about Matti Ranin as Toivo Virta.Or Leo Jokela as Väinö Kokki.Jussi Jurkka plays the part of Bruno Rygseck.Leevi Kuuranne is 'Butler' Veijonen.Saara Ranin portrays Amalia Rygseck.Aino Mantsas is Alli Rygseck.Matti Oravisto plays Erik Vaara.Elina Salo plays Airi Rykämö while Pentti Siimes is her brother Aimo.Elina Pohjanpää plays Irma Vanne's role.Leo Riuttu is Writer K.V. Laihonen.Arvo Lehesmaa is Gunnar Rygseck.Risto Mäkelä plays Hagert.Pentti Irjala plays Doctor Dahlberg.Toivo Mäkelä is Pianist.Leo Lastumäki is seen as Repairman.Rose-Marie Precht, Katriina Rinne and Esko Salminen are seen in the swimming pool.This first Palmu movie doesn't have a reputation of a classic for no reason.We all remember the legendary scene, where Leo Jokela sings.And the whole character of Palmu is legendary.The way he works on the case and solves the crime.Finnish crime comedy doesn't get too much better than this.

This is an absolutely delightful movie, one of my all time favourites. It is a mixture of comedy, exitement, dark humor etc. The actors work terrificly as in every Komisario Palmu movie. This movie has great turns and it always succees to scare me deliciously on the end. You can´t get tired of this movie, I can assure you that!

An intricately constructed locked-room murder mystery that demands your full attention or you'll be lost quickly in its multiple characters, subplots, and flashbacks. Joel Rinne is a delight as the wily Inpsector Palmu, and he is surrounded by an effective supporting cast, with Elina Pohjanpää especially cute as Irma. There may be a tad too much talk in this film, but the sheer novelty of watching a Finnish production, and a well-done at that, in this genre is enough to hold your attention. It was followed by three sequels, all with the same star and director, and I am sufficiently motivated to check out at least the first of them and see how it goes. The title is a bit strange, though - I didn't see any "error" on Palmu's part. *** out of 4.

"Director and scenarist Matti Kassila is well versed in the modus operandi of a whodunit, every suspect has something to hide, which can be traced by their individual temperaments. It is a smorgasbord of one-note performers, a buffoonish lush Aimo (Siimes) and his seemingly innocuous sister Airi (Salo), whose finance Erik (Oravisto, showing horrible teeth) is a humorless square. There is Bruno's harpy aunt Amalia (Saara Ranin, a hairy mole near her mouth almost steals her thunder) and his estranged wife Alli (Mantsas) who has a proclivity of hysteria. Also obliviously join the fold is a meet-cute between an appealing socialite Irma (Pohjanpää) and a name writer Laihonen (Riuttu). Ergo, it requests some quality time to suss the whole ensemble, plus subtitle-reading does not help."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks